Sweet Endearments
by chibiTALA
Summary: "Love is a smoke made with fume of sighs"- A beautiful quote to describe the lives of our beloved Kai and Tala, who are thriving to gain each other's approval. Will they finally admit their feelings for each other? Or will they need some 'motivation' from their friends? (My first Yaoi fic! Tala x Kai! Please read and review!)
1. Prologue

Hello everyone! I am back with another fic featuring our favourite boys called the Blitzkrieg Boys! I am seriously in love with those hotties!

But this time, there is something new in this that would make it different from other ficcies of mine. If you guessed that it has Yaoi, then you are totally right! Check out my profile, you will find it clearly written over there that I prefer uke Kai. He is sooo adorable!

So, this fic would feature my much-loved pairing, Tala x Kai! Those two are really made for each other...in my opinion anyway. XD

Anyways, anyone who ships uke Kai would know how it was popular quite a few years ago, with Elemental Gypsy, MasterFranny, XxSweet MitsukaixX, Taijiya Mizu and many others being prominent writers who wrote fics featuring him. Think of this as a tribute to them for giving us so much cute adorable stories with Uke Kai. I would always miss them.

Enough with my blabbering. :P

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Beyblade. They belong to Aoki Takao. Do you seriously think Tyson would have won the World Championships if I owned the franchise?

Kai: Yeah, yeah, now get on with the fic already. No one wants to hear your shit.

Khushi: *Gasps* You?!

* * *

Spencer groaned, as he felt a pounding headache coming full force. He was currently sitting on the couch in the living room, watching two of his teammates shouting at each other on the top of their lungs.

And no, this time it was not Tala vs. Bryan or Bryan vs. Ian or even Tala vs. Ian. It was Tala vs. Kai. He wondered how Kai got into a fight but apparently, Tala had blamed Kai for eating his pancakes but Kai was insisting that he did not eat anything of his. And they had been bickering about this for almost two hours now. Spencer felt like banging his head against the tea table but that would only help in aggravating his throbbing head. Muttering curses under his breath, he kept looking at his stupid friends, as the argument grew more loudly.

"Why the heck did you eat my pancakes?!" Tala snarled, stomping up to Kai and leering down at him, taking advantage of his tall height.

But Kai was not someone to get intimidated by that. He stepped up and gave the redhead one of his most intense death glares. Growling lowly, he said, "This is the last time I am telling this to you, I. Did. Not. Eat. Your. Bloody. Pancakes!" With each word, he took one step ahead, now standing in front of Tala, getting well into his face and personal space bubble.

Tala did not pay any heed to that and grabbed the younger teen by his upper arms. He pulled the petite teen even more closer, their bodies almost touching and stared at him with clear blue eyes. Kai gulped silently and a little nervously.

"Then what were you doing near the crime scene, huh?"

"Can't a guy get some food for himself?!"

"And why are you holding a knife in your hand?" Tala muttered sceptically.

Kai's fine eyebrow twitched slightly, his smaller frame bristling indignantly at the constant accusations. "Maybe because I cannot eat watermelon _without_ using a knife?"

Spencer decided that if he did not stop this nonsense, he would end up committing homicide. Even a saint has his patience' limit, you know. "Tala?" He started slowly and winced when they started screaming again.

"Do you really think I would believe all that shit? I am not stupid!" Tala huffed loudly, hands on his lean hips. Kai groaned loudly, looking towards the sky as if asking the heavens, 'Why me?'. He slowly lowered his head and directly stared at him. "Guys?" Spencer vainly tried again. But just as the first time, they did not notice him.

"Tala, if you do not believe me, then you are truly stupid. Why would I eat you pancakes?" Kai whined, which is a first for him, clearly stating that he was teetering on the end of his tolerance. Tala frowned and opened his big mouth again, "Because you love panca-"

"GUYS!" Spencer bellowed loudly, as he finally snapped. The two younger teens blinked owlishly and looked at him with wide eyes, resembling two cute adorable lost kids. Spencer breathed deeply and grinded his teeth together, steam practically coming out of his ears. He looked like a deranged animal at the moment. He sharply turned towards Tala, making the poor teen flinch.

" _I_ was the one who sent him to eat the goddamned watermelon because the kid is already skinny enough!" Kai went off to protest at being called 'skinny' and 'kid' in the same sentence (not that he would have liked being called those words in separate sentences) but Spencer raised a hand making Kai close his mouth. He then continued, "And it was not Kai but me who ate your shitty pancakes. Happy now?"

Tala and Kai had their eyes wide open and gaped openly at Spencer as he admitted that. _Spencer_ stole the pancakes? Seriously? Is the world coming to an end?

But before Tala could start yelling again, the door of their apartment opened and footsteps padded heavily across the floor and reached the living room door. Bryan raised an eyebrow when he saw Spencer ready to blow up and looked at the other two occupants of the room. He smirked devilishly as he noticed how the two teens were clinging to each other in fear. He blinked and smothered a chuckle when they abruptly pulled away from each other, dark blushes covering their faces. Oh, this should be fun.

"I am not really in mood for listening to what had occurred over here. Tala? Shiny Head gave this to me, said something about having an appointment with you but you did not show up or something." Ignoring the uptight atmosphere, he coolly walked up to the slightly younger teen and gave him a cream coloured envelope.

The captain looked at the material in his older friend's hand curiously and took it and opened it quickly, with precise movements and dished out a neatly folded letter with BBA stamp on it. He sat down on the sofa, waiting for his friends to settle down before he unfolded the letter. He noticed with vague amusement when he saw his brothers lean in to see what was written with utter curiosity. He cleared his throat and read aloud what was written.

"To the Blitzkrieg Boys, we hope you are fine and living conveniently in the living accommodations we have provided you with and Blah, blah, blah." Tala paused, frowning. He realised it must be another stupid letter requesting them to participate in some charity competition. "It is just the usual shit. Nothing new." He mumbled and was about to crumple the letter, intending to throw it in the dustbin but a hand that softly landed atop his, stopped him.

He looked up and found himself drowning in soft pools of a pair of rubies. He stared at the shorter teen in the eyes, mesmerized by the beautiful shade of them, wondering how eyes could be so gorgeous. He also felt slight tingling sensations where Kai was touching his hand. Though both the teens pulled away, splash of pink decorating their features when they heard chuckles from the other two occupants of the room. Spencer shook his head, an amused smile gracing his lips. _These two are hopeless._

Tala coughed awkwardly and hesitantly glanced at the brunette beside him, silently asking him what he wanted to say. Kai nodded his head towards the letter and said, "If it is just the 'usual shit', then why is Las Vegas mentioned in it?" The remaining three teens leaned forward and read the letter silently and sure enough, the aforementioned city's name was written, stating something about a vacation at there...Wait, What?

Bryan's eyes widened as he re-read the BBA letter and the same line was still there. "So, the BBA has decided that we need to have a vacation, huh?" Tala mused, as he read the rest of the letter.

"I don't think I like the fact that other teams are also going to be there." Bryan mumbled darkly, and crossed his arms over his chest in a slightly irate manner. He liked to have vacations alone, without some stupid people to drive him crazy.

Kai snorted. "Like we can do anything about that." He gazed at Tala inquisitively and asked him, "How long is our stay and when are we going?" The blue eyed teen skimmed his eyes across the letter clutched in his hands and replied, "We are going on Saturday. It is an all expenses paid holiday for fifteen days. Hm, now that's something I am honestly looking forward to." He smirked and stood up and stretched his long arms over his head. "I am going to start packing. We only have two days, anyways." With that, he disappeared out the hallway, going into his room.

As soon as he stepped into his room, he quickly closed the door and leaned against it, gasping for breath. He had to get out of there. He did not know the ruby eyed beauty could have such effects on him. He frowned deeply as he went over all that had happened there, from the light touches and soft gazes to deep thudding of his heart.

 _What is happening to me?_

* * *

Spencer stood up as soon as Tala was gone and looked at the remaining two, "Kai? Can you go and check out who is on the phone?" Sure enough, their landline phone was ringing shrilly. He nodded and got to his feet and silently padded towards the phone on the other end of the hallway. When the dual haired teen was out of the sight and hearing range, he turned to Bryan, who was sending him a knowing gaze.

"So you think so too, huh Spence?" Bryan drawled lightly, smirk still plastered on his face. Spencer gave him a grin, signalling him in positive. Bryan had earlier told him that their two younger brothers had been dancing around each other for quite some time now. Spencer had honestly not given this notion much thought, thinking that they were just being their usual selves. But today, he had been proved wrong as he saw what had happened. He had to admit it was cute.

"Well then, don't you think we should do something about this?" He looked slightly hopeful, wondering what Spencer would say. He usually did not involve himself in these things so...

Spencer smiled, his eyes saying it all. Bryan's smirk turned into a genuine smile, though he did a little happy dance in his mind. Spencer helping him in his devilish plans? This should be interesting.

They sat in comfortable silence, their minds plotting things they wanted to do. Suddenly, the burly blonde realised something and frowned.

"Where is Ian?"

* * *

That was the end of prologue. I hope you liked it! And yeah, for those who were not able to comprehend who 'Shiny head' is, it's Mr. D, okay?

Do tell me what you think of this and feel free to give me suggestions on what should happen next! Also, how did you get here?

Kai: I can go wherever I want to go.

Khushi: Are you here to read my fic? O.o

Kai: No.

Khushi: Then get lost! +.+

Kai: Oh come on, I was joking. Yes I wanted to read what kind of idiocy you are coming up with. It is quite amusing to see you fangirls making me a lovesick teenager. Makes me cry.

Khushi: ... T.T

Review please!

Bye bye and Namaste!


	2. The Plan

I am back! A big round of applause for me!... No? Okay. *Pouts*

Here is the second chapter of Sweet Endearments! I hope you enjoy this!

And big thanks to

Fantasy Sword

Little A Granger

Unaisa Memon

for reviewing! Love you all!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Beyblade or any of its characters. I am not making any money out of this.

Kai: Like you could make money out of _anywhere._ I am sure you are going to end up homeless in your adult years.

Khushi: Shut up or I am going to make you wear a bright pink tutu and a flowery tiara on your head in this fic!

Kai: *Gulps and Shuts up*

Khushi: Good.

WARNING: Yaoi! Don't like it, then don't read it. (I honestly don't know why we put this in warnings. Can someone tell me why?)

* * *

Tala absent mindedly folded a pair of jeans as he mulled over his...his...his, you know what! He frowned, he couldn't even say the f-word and he was starting to actually feel them. He grumbled lowly and shoved the folded jeans into the already full suitcase. These feelings are really going to be the death of him.

He blinked when he realised he had just said that word. _His feelings_. It felt so weird saying 'feelings' as he had been told so many times during his childhood that they are for the weak. He slowly turned around and went into the bathroom to get his hair gel and toothbrush, his mind once again straying towards a certain ruby eyed beauty.

The younger teen has caught the attention of the redhead. There is something special about him that drew Tala towards him, whether it is his mesmerising eyes, perfect petite body or his well chiselled face and those alluring blue triangles on his face. The way he walks, the way he tilts his head whenever something confuses him, the way he talks and especially the way he bristles every time Tala picks a fight with him. It all made him drawn towards him. He just has to admit that he is actually starting to like Kai. In _that_ way.

He suddenly yelped when he lost his footing on the slippery tiles and fell down face forward. Cursing loudly in Russian, he slowly sat up and clutched his head tenderly when he felt it starting to throb. He looked up when he faintly heard someone calling out to him and saw very same person who has been occupying his thoughts for so many days.

Kai blinked and looked at him weirdly when he did not get any response from the redhead. "Are you okay?" He tried again. Tala seemed to snap out of his reverie and looked at him in some sort of amazement. Kai gazed at him in concern. _Maybe he hit his head too hard._

He shook his head slightly and started to move away from the threshold of the bathroom, intending to call Spencer in but a voice stopped him.

"I-I'm okay! Just a little peachy..." He mumbled silently, not wanting Kai to go away. Kai nodded his head and slowly went closer and extended his hand towards him. Tala grabbed it gratefully and Kai helped him haul himself up.

"Thanks." Kai raised an eyebrow when he heard that. Tala never said 'Thanks', he is probably too proud to say that. "And...I am sorry. You know, for that day when I blamed you for stealing my pancakes, when for once you were eating on your own accord. I still can't believe Spence ate my pancakes." He grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck slightly.

He frowned when he saw the beauty before him looking at him with a somewhat suspicious look on his face. He blinked when the younger teen took a few steps aback from him.

"SPENCER!" Kai called out to his burly older brother. Tala just blinked at his behaviour. What is he doing?

The blonde male came into the room with an annoyed expression on his face. He looked around and saw Kai near the bathroom door with Tala. He sighed and asked, "What happened?"

"He is an imposter." Kai said tensely, pointing an accusing finger at the redhead, who tilted his head, looking utterly clueless. "Huh?" Spencer asked unintelligently. He looked at Tala critically but found nothing wrong with him, except for the fact that he was half naked.

"He said thank you... _and_ sorry within just a few seconds!" The dual haired teen said seriously, backing a few more steps away from Tala. Spencer frowned and raised an eyebrow when he saw Tala giving Kai an incredulous look. The heck?!

"Okay, who are you and what have you done to our captain?" Spencer demanded dangerously, gesturing towards Kai to point his gun at the 'imposter'. Kai nodded his head and pulled his trusted gun out of his jeans' back pocket and pointed it at Tala's head. Tala's eyes widened marginally and he shot them both a frightened look. What the hell are those two on about?

"He asked you something." Kai growled, tapping the muzzle of the gun on the blue eyed teen's head, preventing him from moving too much. Poor Tala gulped loudly and said in a trembling voice, "I am the real Tala. What are you on about?"

"Who are you working for?" Spencer asked, his eyes blazing. "Huh?" The redhead gaped at his teammates, not able to believe that they really think he is an imposter. Once he is away from the gunpoint and has made it clear that he is the _real_ Tala, he would surely make them pay.

"Do you work for Voltaire? Boris? BIOVOLT? What is your mission? Who are you after? Me? The whole team? And what have you done to-"

"BRYAN!" Tala finally had had enough. Who knew _Kai_ could be this irritating?

"What." The most violent member entered the room, looking bored to death, followed by the shortest and youngest member of their team, who looked smug for reasons unknown. Bryan looked at the scene in front of him and raised an eyebrow. He then looked at Tala questioningly as he was the one who had called him.

"These two idiots here think that I am not Tala." Bryan looked at Kai and Spencer, noticing that they looked serious and eyed Tala critically. He did not look anything different from the original Tala so he asked him one question he knew only the real Tala would know.

"How many porn CDs and DVDs do I have?" He ignored the looks he was getting from three of his friends and kept his eyes on the redhead. Tala genuinely looked surprised but answered anyways.

"Two hundred seventeen; excluding the five you had ordered online that would reach today." He answered confidently. Kai looked absolutely horrified and Spencer shook his head exasperatedly while Ian looked disturbingly delighted. Bryan nodded his head approvingly. "Kai? You can lower the gun now; he has answered correctly. No one knows of my porn stash except for him."

When Kai lowered his gun sheepishly, Tala shot him and the older teammate an irate look and turned to Bryan, giving him a grateful look. But the appreciative look turned into a look of disgust when he noticed something.

"What the heck are you wearing?" He pointed at Bryan's 'choice' of clothing. Bryan blushed instantly and looked down at the outfit. He was wearing a hot pink oversized shirt which had 'I love Ariana Grande' emblazed on it in bright glittery gold letters. Not a Bryan type thing to wear.

"I have to wear this _thing_ for the next 24 hours as a 'punishment'." At this he looked at Ian accusingly who grinned like a Cheshire cat. Bryan growled lowly, making his teammates snicker behind their hands.

If you are not able to catch up, then long story short, Bryan had beaten Ian up for calling him 'girly' (Not a smart thing to say, especially to a psychopath like Bryan) and threw him into a canal. After a long search for him, Spencer was finally able to locate Ian in a drain with the help of Kai. Ian had to stay in hospital for a whole day and Spencer allowed him to give Bryan a punishment of his own choice. Looks like he has decided to humiliate him on a day when they all were going to meet fellow bladers.

Yes, today is the day when they all are starting their vacations. They are all 'thrilled' about meeting their 'friends'. Please kindly note the sarcasm here.

"I don't see what the problem here is. Bryan is a big fan of her." Kai wondered loudly and tilted his head curiously. Bryan sharply turned to glare at him but his look softened when he saw that the dual haired teen was genuinely confused. He was starting to understand why Tala liked him. The younger teen is truly adorable. But Bryan already has someone else so Tala won't have to worry about fighting for Kai with him.

"He doesn't want the others to know that." Ian stated, the grin not leaving his face at all. Kai nodded as he understood the motive. He turned to Bryan and gave him a sympathetic smile and whispered," Good luck." Bryan nodded and smiled slightly. At least one person supported him no matter what.

Spencer looked at the alarm clock on Tala's bedside table and said, "Don't you think we are twenty minutes late from our check in time?"

The BBoys snapped their heads towards Spencer and then slowly, almost dreadfully, turned to look at the item that was causing such distress. Indeed, they were late and they hadn't even packed yet, let alone are on the way to the airport, which was on an hour's distance from their home.

"...Shit."

* * *

Bryan glared hatefully at the speaker at the airport terminal, in which a woman had just announced that their flight was late by another one hour due to some technical problem shit. The plane was already three hours late, and once the three hours was complete, that bitch had to declare that the plane was late by _another_ one hour.

How much he wanted to throw a rampage and kill that old woman who was dressed in something that was completely inappropriate for someone her age. Who the hell in their seventies wears tiny shorts and boob tubes?! He gagged when more of the skinny woman's wrinkled skin was revealed to his poor eyes when she shifted to sleep in a more comfortable position.

He tried to shift his attention from the aged lady and mulled over how they reached the airport. They had all gotten ready in the record time of just five minutes. Even Tala, who usually took two hours to set his hair, took only ten minutes. Then they hired a taxi (Why they had not done that the day before, he honestly did not know.) and were well on their way to the airport with little hopes of catching their plane when Tala decided that the cab driver was taking too much time and pushed him into the back of the car and sat behind the wheels, making the car move at the speed of 180 kmph.

Had they all not been petrified to death, they would have cooed at how Kai, who had been sitting in the passenger seat the whole time, had grabbed Tala's arm in fear and was pleading to him to slow the car down.

What had been even cuter was that Tala had actually listened to Kai, which he never did whenever he was rash driving, and slowed that car down to almost 90 kmph. Sadly, that had lasted only a few moments as they had reached the airport terminal by then.

They had reached the terminal in only twenty five minutes and were rushing to check in when the speaker announced that their flight was late. They were conflicted as to whether they should be relieved that they had not missed their flight or be irritated that they would have to wait for three more hours, which had now turned to four.

He looked at his teammates, who were in the waiting hall. Ian was playing on his I-phone but when Bryan noticed the evil grin plastered across the youngest teen's face, he guessed that the midget was probably hacking into some poor unsuspecting person's phone. Spencer was doing what he always did when he had some peace; reading a book. The lilac haired teen noted that it was psychological thriller novel, which he had seen Kai reading a few weeks ago.

He looked at the remaining two members of the team and smiled. Tala had fallen asleep with Kai curled up beside him, with his head on the redhead's shoulder and Tala had his arm wrapped around Kai in a protective manner. He had to admit they looked so cute together.

He wondered what the two lovebirds' reaction would be when they found out how they were sleeping.

He turned to Spencer and nudged him slightly, making him look up and tilted his head towards the sleeping duo. Spencer turned to look at the couple and smiled softly. He turned to Bryan and said, "We should seriously do something."

Bryan nodded his head and said, "I know. But I think it would be more fun if one of them actually knew of our plans." Ian, who had been listening to their conversation intently, asked, "Why?"

Both the older teens turned to him, surprised. Ian looked at them weirdly and snapped, "What. It is obvious those two are heads over heels for each other!" He felt insulted that they thought he does not understand these things. Of course he does! He is not a person you would exactly call innocent!

Bryan blinked, wondering why he had even thought that Ian would have no idea about this and answered his previous question, "It would be much easier if one of them is aware of our plans. That way, there would be little chance of our plans failing. And it would also make our work lesser if we have to keep an eye on only one of them. Keeping a check on both would only cause headache."

Ian nodded. _Fair enough._ He thought and enquired, "What do you have in mind?" He looked at them and seeing them both glancing at each other unsurely, he got his answer. He sighed and grumbled under his breath. He thought for a few minutes and ignored his two older friends who were looking at him curiously.

Both the older teens blinked when Ian suddenly straightened in his seat, his eyes having a strange gleam in them. They blinked again when Ian moved closer to them so that his 'ideas' could not be heard by prying ears.

The next fifteen minutes were spent polishing Ian's amazing plan, adding a little exciting touch to it. The Perfect Matchmaking plan was truly ready now and they were currently discussing that which one of the two oblivious teens would be left out of their plan. They decided it would be best if it were Kai because of obvious reasons which would be revealed much much later.

"So we are ready?" Bryan asked, a determined gleam in his eyes which he usually got when he was going to beybattle in the stadium. Spencer and Ian smirked and nodded their heads seriously. It was a matter of the future of two of their close friends after all.

"How many days do we have again?" Bryan asked, his mind not able to remember the exact date of their plan's deadline.

Ian smirked evilly and replied, "Twelve." He then extended his hand towards the other two to confirm their alliance. Spencer and Bryan returned the gesture and the three did a little hand shaking ceremony.

"Plan 'Unite the Fiery Ice' has commenced."

Unseen by the three teens who were engrossed in their plans, a pair of ice blue eyes opened slightly.

He had heard it all...

* * *

Finally! The second chapter of Sweet Endearments is finished! How was it? Good? Bad? Very bad? Not good at all? So so? Please tell me!

I would be very happy if you leave comments and suggestions. And yes, flames are welcome but please do not condemn me for writing Yaoi. If you do that, you will be ignored because it is your narrow mindedness that is bothering you, not my writings.

And a Happy New Year! May this New Year bring happiness in your lives and my life too by getting reviews. :P

Bye Bye and Namaste!


	3. Fly! Fly! Up in the Sky!

Hello everyone! Guess who's back!

Not really, I am not permanently back here. I was feeling nostalgic and decided to surf around a bit here. And you know what? I got bitten by a writing bug! Do you know how amazing that feeling is? When you think you don't have much inspiration to write and then you are hit with a truckload of motivation that pushes you right into writing what you love? That feeling is euphoric.

I have decided to turn this Fic into a baby of mine and I am going to shower it with as much love and care I can give it. I have now turned this Fic into a passion project, where I am going to experiment with many elements to gain writing experience. This means I am not going to feel any pressure while writing it and just have fun and enjoy the journey. There is so much room to improve and learn, you know.

Okay! Enough with my rambling. Let's see how much I have improved in the time I have been away from this site! Now enjoy the third chapter!

* * *

 **CHAPTER 3: FLY; FLY, UP IN THE SKY!**

Tala had always been a man of his word (not really). He had never backed out of his word (an utter lie). What he said was exactly what he did all the time (sometimes). A promise made by him was always kept (rarely). But today was a special case (entirely normal case actually).

He sighed and ducked his head when even his conscience didn't agree with him. But it was true; when his close friends were involved. He would rather die than break any of their trust in him; give them any reason to not believe in him. But today, he won't feel guilty while admitting that he would rather die than keep his promise to his older friend, Spencer, which was- not to hurt any of his fellow passengers.

When all of them had finally boarded the airplane, Tala and the rest of them had been equal parts surprised and horrified to find out and finally realise what they had gotten themselves into, to the full extent. It wasn't something life-threatening or disturbing either, but it was something to worry about when it involved them, who all had been raised in a psychotic Abbey where they had all been mind washed to become the outcasts of the society; a threat to all.

Maybe he was over reacting but he wasn't lying when he said that he was teetering on the edge of his short amount of patience. Almost half of his mind, containing the crucial logic oriented part of the brain, had already gone numb due to the shock it had suffered while boarding the plane; when he had found out that they were not alone on the plane.

That was not actually what the problem was. Of course there were going to be other passengers in the plane as it was not a private jet. But he had set his mind to expect _normal_ other passengers, not rowdy and boisterous co-Bladers occupying the whole plane now to fly along with him to literally the other side of the world in a fourteen-hour flight via Los Angeles, where they would pick up the last remaining team, PPB All Starz. Max had already boarded the plane with G Revolutions from Tokyo, where all the rest of them had also boarded the cursed plane.

Apparently, BBA did not want to waste their time and money on buying all the teams' different plane tickets and just hired a plane to take all the teams to their destination. Tala did not quite understand how that was cheaper but he was not going to waste his energy on figuring that out when his hands were already full with more important things, like how he would refrain himself from rushing to the cockpit and deliberately crash landing the plane, therefore killing all those who were causing him a severe headache.

The plane cabin was quite loud, which was expected, but it was louder than usual due to the familiarity between the passengers. The younger beybladers were running up and down the aisle, shouting at the top of their lungs in excitement of the trip and it didn't help at all that he was stuck in his aisle seat. There were bladers who were not affected by the hyper and thrilled excitement of the trip encasing the whole plane in its grasp, yes but they were very few and sadly, he was not friends with any of them.

He had wanted to go to the washroom hoping for a moment of peace as he was feeling suffocated out there but it had been occupied, some scuffling and thudding noises echoing within alongside muffled grunts and groans that suggested that some non-kids friendly actions were going on inside that he did not to wonder about at all. After that traumatising sequence, he had not budged from his seat at all.

He glanced at his side, where his three friends, Spencer, Bryan and Ian were seated together, crowding over Ian's laptop as they discussed something they had decided to leave him and Kai out of. He snorted as they continued their heated discussion, shutting him out completely and debating whatever it was they were debating over and thinking Tala was oblivious to their odd behaviour. As if he didn't know what exactly they were planning about.

He still didn't know what to think of that. His friends had figured out about his peculiar infatuation with Kai and were trying to get them together. He didn't actually think that was a very good idea. Their matchmaking plan would have worked if both him and Kai were seriously interested in each other and didn't know how to express their feelings to each other. He didn't know much about feelings, he was aware of that, but with whatever knowledge he had from all the crappy romance movies he had seen, he knew Kai was not interested in him as much as he was in Kai.

But still, his remaining friends seemed to think otherwise.

He looked at the person occupying his mind and tried to stop the blood from rushing to his cheeks. Kai was sleeping soundly by his side, the outside world blocked by the noise blocking headphones tucked in his ears, soft pink lips parted a bit and a serene expression relaxing his usually stony face. His hands were resting on his lap, fingers lightly gripping the book he had been reading earlier and his head was tilted to the side, slightly lying on Tala's broad shoulder.

He jerked out of his reverie at a particular loud screech coming from the area where the G Revolution were seated and looked irritated in their direction to see an air hostess screaming at Tyson and Johnny, who had been arguing since the past half an hour, telling them to put their Beyblades away that they had pulled out to battle right on the plane. Where both their common sense had gone, he did not know.

"This is an _aeroplane_! Aero means _air!_ That means we are in the goddamned _air_! You can't just pull out your stupid but freaking destructive Beyblades out here! We will fucking crash! So for God's sake, get back to your fucking seats!"

Surprisingly, the whole plane fell silent in shock at hearing an air hostess swear and shout at the passengers, regardless of how dim-witted the said passengers were and felt the pain in his skull alleviate a bit. Tyson and Johnny were stunned into silence, the looks on their faces comical and went back to their respective seats, sulking wordlessly.

The plane stayed silent even after the tension had been resolved and the air hostess that had shouted seemed embarrassed, and rushed away to the front of the plane. Tala felt sorry for her and hoped that she would not get fired after this as he understood the pain in the ass these people can be when they want to.

In the silence that ensued, Tala breathed a sigh of relief and picked up the book that was falling of Kai's lap and put it on the table in front of them, as he did not have the heart to move to put it in the younger teen's bag under their seat and jostle him out of his sleep. Kai was still oblivious to all the drama that had occurred a few minutes ago.

He then settled himself as comfortably as he could into the seat and against Kai, intending to catch sleep for at least a few minutes. He sighed as he finally relaxed enough to fall into the depths of sweet slumber tugging at his mind, the warmth of the body beside him and the gentle humming of the plane a comforting presence.

"Um, hey, Tala. Wake up."

Tala jolted awake at the soft voice calling out to him and lifted his head up from the warm shoulder. He squinted his eyes against the now dimmed lights and blinked blearily up at Kai, who was now awake and looking down at him from under the slate coloured bangs, dark eyes staring into his soul and he unconsciously got lost in their depths.

"You awake now?"

Tala jolted again, trying to clear up his mind a bit and nodded at him. He then turned around to look at the dimmed surroundings and realised it was probably past dinner time now, as all the other bladers were now preparing their blankets to settle in for the night. He never ate food from flight as he had never been able to stomach the inedible and tasteless dishes they called food and so his other teammates never bothered to make him eat it, but it looked like Kai had already eaten, the proof of it was the scent of the food surrounding him.

"What is it?" He asked, his voice raspy from sleep and stretched his arms above his head, groaning a bit at the popping sound that came after he aligned his spine back and ignored that wince that Kai gave at that. He knew this would come back to him in old age to cause him pain but he did not care. He didn't think he would even stay alive for that long. He would rather enjoy life and die young than save everything for stupid old age.

"I was wondering, would you be okay if I went away for a while and let Claude sit here in my stead?"

Tala brought his hands, that were still in the air, abruptly down at that and now fully awake, blinked at the teen in confusion. Kai looked at him in apprehension, and glanced up at something behind Tala with the same look. Tala blinked again and looked behind him when he finally sensed the presence of someone else there and was surprised when he saw Miguel standing there, looking much more nervous than Kai himself and wringing his hands in front of him. Miguel smiled at him when their eyes met but it looked more like a grimace than anything else due to nerves. He looked back at Kai and raised a fine eyebrow in query.

"What? Why?" his voice croaked still and Kai silently handed him the water bottle from the foldable table and he took it gratefully and gulped down half the bottle at once, the cool water soothing his throat that had gone dry from the air-conditioning in the plane. Kai waited for him to finish drinking before he spoke again, Miguel still standing behind them silently. He suddenly became aware of his other team members watching their interaction quietly from where they were sitting across from them but he turned his attention back to Kai as he started speaking.

"Well, you know, I'm not sleepy now as I've been sleeping for the past 7 hours. And Miguel invited me to his seat as he isn't sleepy either and wanted to spend time with me. So, can you stay with Claude for now? I will come back before the flight lands, I promise."

Tala stared blankly at him as he couldn't understand what was happening. Since when did Kai and Miguel become friends? He was about to refuse as he did not want to be away from Kai when he was right next to him but he paused when he saw the look on Kai's face. He was biting his bottom lip, teeth slightly grazing on it and his eyes were glimmering slightly with hope from behind a curtain of his bangs and his cheeks were slightly pink from the cool air and Tala knew he was a goner.

"Fine, but do come back before the landing because I am not carrying your luggage." He relented, looking back at Miguel to glare at him for taking Kai away but winced at the brightness of the grin stretching his thin lips across his beautiful tanned face. He looked back at Kai who was giving him a similar dazzling smile of his own and he pitied his poor heart that stuttered slightly at such a stunning sight and he felt pride swell in his chest at being the cause of it. He ignored the voice in his head telling him that Kai had smiled not because of him but because he could be with Miguel.

"Sure! And thanks, Tal." Kai stood up and ruffled Tala's hair, ignoring the scowl on the pale man's face as he knew Tala liked it on the inside. Tala turned his legs to the side so Kai could pass him and watched sadly as Kai went away with Miguel to their seats, pretending that he didn't hear the blonde man's murmured 'Thanks, Tala.'.

He stayed like that to wait for Kai's replacement to reach and in the meantime, he indulged in placing his frustration somewhere else; like his teammates. He glared at them petulantly at the way they were watching him with pity in their eyes as if he were a hurt puppy.

"What!" He snapped at his closest friend, who happened to be Spencer, his eyes flashing viciously to show that he was not in the mood to be played with. But still Spencer regarded him with gentle calmness and concern, as he knew Tala was just acting up and not going to actually carry out with his wordless threats.

"You okay?" he asked the red haired man, who was still looking quite jealous but he was not going to point that out as he valued his life. Tale turned away at that and noticed Claude making his way up towards him. The tall male gave Tala a nervous smile, clutching at the blankets he brought with him as if his life depended on it. Tala jerked his head slightly in a gesture to tell him to get in and Claude quickly scrambled past him to get in Kai's seat as the guy did not want to infuriate the Wolborg wielder any further, settling in quickly and throwing the blankets over himself and covering his face with it. He did not move after that.

Tala stared at him weirdly for a few moments, not getting why the other man was acting this way but chalked it up to his own scary face and probably the dangerous aura he emitting at that moment. He turned back towards Spencer and saw he was still waiting for an answer so he gave him that.

"Yes, I am!" He growled lowly and even to his own ears that sounded unconvincing and it was confirmed by the way Spencer raised his eyebrows, clearly saying that he did not believe him. But Tala was grateful when Spencer did not push the matter further and just shrugged his shoulders and settled in his seat, crossing his arms over his broad chest and turning his head away. Tala watched as the bulky man's breath evened out and turned his legs back into the seat, aiming to go right back to sleep.

But when a few more screams came from the seats of G Revolutions, Hillary shrieking at some cockroach in her blanket and disrupting the hushed ambience of the plane and causing the rest of the plane give for a few individuals to wake up, Tala realised that sleep was not going to come back to him any longer tonight.

It was going to be _very_ long remaining 7 hours in the flight.

* * *

Landing feet in Las Vegas was like landing in a whole new world. The ride back to their hotel from the airport was the most fascinating ride he had ever had the opportunity to experience. Everything surrounding him was magnificent, extravagant and jaw-dropping. The climate was remarkably hot, with sunshine blazing down on their faces and dry wind blowing around them. It was quite a contrast to Tala's whole life in the freezing tundra of Russia. He wasn't complaining though.

They had passed by the famous Bellagio Hotel on their way and he got to get a glimpse of the beautiful Dancing Fountains at the front of the glorious hotel, water sprouting from the bottom in such a languid and graceful way that he had never seen before, leaving him gaping. It was then that he realised that he has not witnessed even one-eighth part of what the world had to offer to him. He changed his mind about dying young, now wanting to explore the world for another 70 years, or something.

The hotel they were staying at was also as breathtaking as the rest of the city, reaching towards the sky and a perfect replica of a modern-day palace, complete with a crown statue at the top of the building, decorated with leaf-like structures surrounding the crown looking as if they were protecting the delicate head accessory. The lawn at the front was covered with vast gardens and small water springs that looked like miniature version of the Dancing Fountains. The air was warm but there was still freshness to it.

BBA had booked three entire floors, 6th, 7th and 8th floors, to contain all of the bladers they were taking care of and luckily, Blitzkrieg Boys were all on the same floor, the 7th floor, though they all got rooms in whole different sections. Tala's heart had dropped and rose up in the same millisecond when he had found out Kai and him were sharing the same hotel room; Spencer and Bryan sharing one and Ian being the unlucky one who ended up sharing a room with F Dynasty's Raul.

Kai had gone out as soon as he had unpacked, disappearing without disclosing his locations though he had promised he would appear before lunch in the banquet hall, where there was going to be a welcome speech by Mr. Dickenson. He was planning on sleeping so as to recover from the jet lag, but Bryan, Spencer and Ian decided to foil his plans and barged into his room without knocking and disregarding his privacy and occupied various seats in the room, cornering him for an interrogation.

And that's how he was finding himself in his current predicament.

"So, Tala, are you going to spit it out or do I have to 'help' you?" Bryan drawled in a condescending manner that irritated him to the core, but he was not going to grace the older man's question with any sort of response. He continued fiddling with his phone and pretended that he was unfazed, even if his throat was going dry due to uneasiness.

"Come on, Tala. We all know you want to talk to us. So why the hell are you being so difficult?" This time Ian spoke up from his seat on the dressing table, swinging his legs back and forth. Tala couldn't stop himself from glaring at the shorter teen, but he didn't answer the way they wanted him to.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He muttered under his breath and suppressed the smirk threatening to bloom across his face when collective groans echoed in the otherwise silent room. He _knew_ what they were trying to do. They were trying to get him to admit that he was jealous of the newfound friendship between Kai and Miguel, so that they could finally reveal their matchmaking plans to him and get him on board to help them.

But he was not going to go along with their plans, no way. He wasn't ready to take the next step when he wasn't even sure where he stood with Kai right now. Sure, they exchanged sweet glances, spent quality alone time together, talked about their worries and insecurities that they never admitted to anyone else but he didn't think it was out of anything other than mutual respect and friendliness towards each other. God, he couldn't believe he was friend zoning his own _crush_.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am sure." Tala rolled his eyes, feeling his temper flaring, feeling like his snapping point was close.

"Really? You think we would believe that? You know we-"

"I am not having this talk right now. So get the fuck out of my room!" He rounded on Bryan glaring at him heatedly, who shut his mouth and gave him pointed look. Bryan might be a persistent person who would not stop until he got what he wanted but he respected his captain and had never crossed any lines. The lilac haired man huffed and got up from his seat by the door and left the room, making sure to angrily slam the door shut on his way out. Tala swore Bryan had more mood swings than a teenage girl on her period.

"Now what are you two waiting for, huh?" He looked at the remaining two males in the room, glancing at both of them critically and Ian peeped before rushing out of the room, most probably going after Bryan to calm the moody man down. Spencer stood up too and gave him a meaningful look which stayed on his face for too short time for him to able to decipher the meaning behind it and walked to the door. He paused with his hand on the door handle.

"We will wait for you at the lunch. Its time anyways." Spencer then shut the door behind him. Tala waited for the footsteps to fade away before he slumped backwards and fell on the soft mattress, body spread in a spread-eagle position. He stared at the designer carvings in the ceiling of some kind of early man painting, depicting a hunting scene and pondered over the look Spencer gave him. He suddenly wondered what Kai was doing but his attention again went back to the look on Spencer's face. It looked as if Spencer could read his mind, could read him inside out like a simple book without any riddles, knew exactly what his thought process was. It was unnerving.

He couldn't suppress the shiver that ran down his spine and knew that it wasn't from the room AC. He jumped up from the bed and rushed out of the room, wanting to will away the chilling thoughts running through his mind.

* * *

"Hello everyone! I hope you all had a safe and comfortable ride here and all of you are enjoying your time on this trip!" A shaky and high pitched voice called from the front, where a makeshift stage had been set up. Tala looked up from where he was seated in front of a small round table with the rest of the Blitzkrieg Boys, Kai munching on his dessert beside him, and looked at the short, stout and potbellied Chairman of BBA, who was wearing his usual suit and looking at all the tables containing Beybladers from the different parts of the world with a welcoming smile on his face.

"Did you all enjoy the dinner tonight?" The old man asked, voice lilting up at the end, as if he was unsure what kind of reaction he would get. He didn't have to worry though, because the people at all the tables shouted out approvals and praises for the food they had just devoured. Tala looked in distaste at the table where G Revolutions were seated, Tyson and Daichi climbing up the dining table and pushing at each other while voicing their opinions about the food in noisy manner, Ray and Hillary trying to get them down before they broke either their limbs or the table.

"I am happy to hear that. So I am standing here to tell you all about what exactly you all are going to do in this very long vacation. Are you all ready to hear that?" There were shouts of 'Yes!' this time too, but some were looking at Mr. D in a confused manner, Tala included, due to the way he worded his sentence. What did he mean by 'Very Long Vacation'? Two weeks wasn't exactly what you would call very long. Tala dismissed the thought, presuming that two weeks must be long for poor Mr. D, who most probably had to spend a lot of money on planning the Beybladers' vacation. Time is relative after all.

"So, as I was saying, here, in Las Vegas, there is so much to see, so much to learn. So I talked with the Committee and we have decided that this vacation is going to be not only about sightseeing and enjoying, but also about learning too." The old man looked nervously at the audience when he was met with a confused silence this time, other than the low voices coming from the G Revolutions, who were still trying to get Tyson and Daichi down. He cleared his throat and continued speaking.

"So in this vacation, there are going to be workshops too-" There were collective sounds of groans and moans of disapproval all around the large hall and Tala smacked Ian on the back of his head, who was sitting on his other side and snickering at the double meaning of the sounds around them. The kid was too tainted for his own good. "-which are going to be conducted. All the bladers are required to join at least two workshops so that this vacation would be enriching experience for all of you." The old man continued as if he didn't hear the complaints and whines around him.

"What kind of workshops are we talking about, Mr. D?" Tala turned to look at Mystel of the BEGA Bladers, who was still clad in his ridiculous robes with a ridiculously bright smile on his face as if he were actually excited about joining some workshop. Tala already didn't like the guy but he now hated him even more. Kai nudged his ribs harshly with his elbow to signal him to stop glaring rudely at the BEGA blader who had asked the question. Tala didn't budge and kept trying to freeze Mystel with his eyes.

"Thank you for asking, Mystel. I was just getting on that." Mr. D gave the Poseidon wielder a gentle smile and continued, "There are going to be Art workshops, Music workshops, Drama workshops and many more. Pamphlets about all the workshops available are going to be given to you and you have three days for registering before the workshops start." He smiled even when there were more protests from the audience. Tala wondered what kind of drugs BBA had inhaled before they decided that getting _beybladers_ to act, sing or draw would be a good idea. He could already see the storm of chaos brewing and the workshops hadn't even started.

"And you know what's more interesting?-" Tala didn't want to know. "There is going to be a festival at the end of two months here, where you all would get to show what you have learnt in the 60-day workshops!" Mr. D spread his arms in a dramatic way, as if it were the best thing to happen in the history of mankind and was yet again met with silence. Tala blinked at the man up on stage and wondered if the old man had finally lost his mind. How were they going to have a _60-day workshop_ when they were going to be here for only _14 days_? He and his teammates exchanged confused glances.

"Um, Mr. D. How is that possible? We are going to be here for only 2 weeks, right?" Emily stood up from her seat beside Max's mom Judy, tilting her head to the side in confusion and asking what was on the minds of everyone present. Tala looked back at Mr. Dickenson, wondering what his answer would be. But the man only gave her a confused look, as if he didn't understand what on earth she was talking about.

Suddenly, a young man climbed up the stage, clearly a staff member judging from the way he was adorning a BBA jacket, and nervously walked up to the bewildered old man, whispering something in his ear. All of them watched the change of expression on the old man's face as it went from confused to concentrated, then realisation and understanding flickered on his wrinkled face before settling on an anxious look and it stayed like that. Tala didn't like that because it could never mean anything good and waited with baited breath for the aged man to gather his thoughts and words, the staff member stepping down the stage.

"Ahem-" The portly man gave a nervous laugh, dabbing at his bald head with a handkerchief before continuing, "I am sorry of the inconvenience. You see...There had been some...complications while printing out the invitations. And the script had been accidentally altered a bit and-" He gave another nervous laugh when Garland shouted at him to 'spit it out already' without filtering his words in front of an elder person and finally blurted out-

"This vacation has been planned not for two weeks, but for two months."

Silence was the reaction after that revelation, as the words slowly sunk in. When they finally did, Tala gaped at the man who had uttered those words at the same time Kai whispered out a stunned 'What?' and that seemed to tip off the rest of the audience, who broke out of the stunned reverie and chaos ensued.

"What the fuck?"

"Two _months_?!"

"You've got to be kidding me!"

"No way!"

"That is amazing!"

As mixed reactions echoed around them, bladers standing up and shouting and screaming at Mr. D for making such a big mistake, Spencer grabbing Bryan around his torso to prevent him from causing any damage to life or property and Ian shooting up and shouting curses at the top of his lungs at the poor elder man up on stage who was trying and failing to control the pandemonium, Tala and Kai's eyes met, ignoring everything around them and getting lost in each other's eyes, unspoken words loud between them even in the face of chaos around them.

Tala wondered, while staring into Kai's mahogany eyes, what he had gotten himself into. If this vacation would be a boon or a curse for his life because he had a feeling this vacation was going to be a very important turning point of his life.

* * *

Done! Here we have the third chapter of Sweet Endearments! Do you think I have improved? Or have I gotten even worse at story telling? To be honest, the only change I myself can see is an increase in word count. T.T

Whatever, I am going to keep trying to improve and one day, I am sure I am going to surpass the level of quality of writing by even Ladya C. Maxine!

Just kidding, we all know that's never going to happen. I don't think anyone can surpass her. (But she just _had_ to leave Sinners incomplete, didn't she?)

I miss all my Fanfiction friends and a few days ago, I was reading 'Hold Me in the Rain' by Cutetyhil again and I totally suggest it to all of you. Every time I read it, I am hit with feels all over again. Thank you for such a great story, Simy!

Also, has anyone heard from my best friend here, Fantasy Sword? I miss her.

That's it for today! I hope you have a good day! Or Night!

Yours, Khushi.


End file.
